As the iOS 13 public beta rolls out more users are getting to try out Apple’s revamped CarPlay experience.
The new version of CarPlay includes a few behind the scenes changes and one giant new feature that brings the in-car functionality on-par with Android Auto, at least for now.
In iOS 13 Apple has added in a dashboard of sorts that displays contextual information as you’re driving. With this new view you can do things like having turn-by-turn navigation and music controls on the screen at the same time.
The dashboard even shows you upcoming calendar appointments now that Apple has added the Calendar app to CarPlay. If you’ve got a location attached to an event, you can tap it to get directions instantly.
That’s about all that’s new with the dashboard, but it’s not all that the company has added to CarPlay in iOS 13. First up, there’s a new light theme that users can enable during the daytime.
You’re not very likely to notice one of the best changes unless you use the service often with a partner. In the latest update, you can run two apps at the same time, one on your phone and one on your car.
Siri is also a little less intrusive now, according to The Verge. The digital assistant used to blur out the entire screen when it was enabled, but now users can see the screen when they’re talking with Siri. This is huge for people who use a lot of turn-by-turn navigation.
Finally, the last noticeable change allows the OS to adapt to larger screens.
How does this compare to Android Auto?
What makes the dashboard interesting is it offers a lot of features that are similar to the current version of Android Auto.
Google’s take on an in-car system has had a dashboard since it launched, and it’s one of the most useful parts of the infotainment system.
While it’s something that I often use, Google is unfourtantly getting rid of the dashboard as we know it in the upcoming version of Android Auto. Although we don’t know precisely when it’s launching it’s rumoured to come out later this summer, according to 9to5Mac.
Instead, Google is utilizing a main-app and secondary-app set up. That means that the main app fills the screen while a second app along the bottom of the display shows a smaller slice of info, like play/pause controls from Spotify for example.
Google Assistant is also getting a ‘Driving Mode’ that like the current Android Auto and CarPlay in iOS 13, has a dashboard interface.
This is also supposed to be launching this summer, but Google has yet to provide a firm release date.
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